Sole-channeling machine.



F. E. BERTRAND.

SOLE CHANNELINGMACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 26 I916,

Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

3 SHEETSSHEETI F. E. BERTRAND.

SOLE CHANNELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26. ms.

' Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F. E. BERTRAND.

SOLE CHANNIELING MACHINE. APPLICATION men FEB.26,1916.

1,23,60. Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

TlNTTED %TATE% PATENT @FFTQE FREDERIC E. BEBTRAND, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SOLE-CHANNELING MACHINE.

nasaeeo.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Aug. 14, 1917.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRnDnRIo E. BER- TRAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sole- Channeling Machines, and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to channeling machines of the character used in the manu facture of boots and shoes, and particularly to channeling machines of the type used to prepare a sole for attachment to the upper of a turn shoe.

In making turn shoes the sole is prepared for attachment to the upper by cutting along the margin of the flesh side of the sole a channel similar to that formed in the insole of a welt shoe, and by also cutting away a strip of material outside the channel and parallel to it to form a shoulder and to provide a rib between the shoulder and channel. The upper is then secured to the solo by stitches that extend through the base of the rib and pull the upper material snugly against the shoulder. The machines now commonly used for performing this channeling operation are equipped with a channel knife, which is guided or gaged from the flesh side of the sole; and another knife that cuts out a strip of material to form the shoulder above mentioned, the latter knife being gaged from the grain side of the sole in order to reduce the sole edge to a uniform thickness.

If the soles are evened or reduced to a uniform thickness before going to the channeling machine, satisfactory results can be obtained by following the practice just described; but many manufacturers object to having theirsoles evened for the reason that a substantial percentage of the stock is wasted by this operation. On the other hand, if a sole varying in thickness is channeled in a machine of the character above described, the shoulder cut will be deeper at some points and shallower at others than the channel cut. .t is highly desirable to have these two cuts of the same depth, or at least to have them of a uniform depth, since, if

the shoulder cut is deeper in some places than the channel cut, the upper stock will not be pulled into the bottom of the shoulder cut by the stitches; and when the shoe is turned right side out a wider crease will be presented between the sole and the upper at some points than at others, thus producing the appearance that the operatives ordinarily designate as grinning. At the same time an unnecessarily deep shoulder cut weakens the extreme marginal portion of thesole and thus reduces the life of the sole. On the other hand, if the shoulder cut is materially shallower than the channel cut, the needle of the machine that stitches the upper to the sole, instead of entering the shoulder cut at the base of the rib, will enter it at some point between the rib and the sole edge, and will thus leave in the finished shoe a marginal sole face of varying width projecting beyond the seam which, of course, is objectionable. If the channel and shoulder cuts are each of a uniform depth but still not exactly the same depth, some of the objections above named are avoided since the crease between the margin of the sole and the upper will then be substantially uniform in width and the projecting sole margin will also be of uniform width. The primary ooject of this channeling operation, however, is to form a rib to which the upper can be united by stitches and the opposite edges of the base of the rib should be of substantially the same depth from the flesh side of the sole.

It is important not only to have the shoulder and channel cuts of the same de th or with a uniform difference in depth etween them but also to have the sole edge reduced to a uniform width or thickness both because of the unattractive appearance that an edge of varying thickness presents, and also for the reason that the edge burnishing tool will not accurately fit an edge of varying width and therefore will not properly finish an edge of this character.

The present invention has for its primary object to devise a channeling machine of the general character above indicated which will properly prepare a turn sole varying in thickness for attachment to the upper. It will be evident from the foregoing statements that such a machine should be ar ranged to make the channel and shoulder cuts each of a uniform depth and to reduce the extreme marginal portion of the sole to a uniform width or thickness.

The manner in which it is proposed to attain these objects and the various features of the invention, including certain combinations and arrangements of parts, the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in this art, will be readily understood from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in rear elevation of a machine embodying the invention in the form now preferred by me;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal, sectional View show ing the various tools that operate on the sole and taken a short distance above the plane of the sole.

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the parts shown in Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 are, respectively, front and side views of the shoulder knife block removed from its holder;

Figs. 6 and 7 are front and side views of the shoulder knife;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the edge knife;

Fig. 9 is a view in rear. elevation of the knives and the gaging means therefor showing them operating on a sole;

Fig. 10 is a plan view showing a sole prepared in the manner herein proposed and showing two of the knives in their operative positions on the sole; and

Fig. 11 is a cross sectional view of the sole shown in Fig. 10, taken on the line 1111,,Fig. 10.

The invention is shown in the accompanying drawings as applied to the channeling machine shown and described in my prior Patent N 0. 1,030,704, granted June 25, 1912. For a description of the general organization and operation of the machine reference should be made to this patent since only so much of the machine will be described in the present application as is considered necessary for the purpose of clearly disclosing this invention.

In the drawings, 2 indicates a sole supporting table which is mounted 011 a slide 4 that is movable vertically in a guideway 6 formed in the lower horizontal. arm of a U-shaped frame 8 which supports the driven parts of the machine. This frame is bolted to the top of a suitable base or post 10. The table 2 is normally held in its operative or raised position in which it is shown in Fig. 1 by means of a strong spring 11, but it may be depressed for the purpose of inserting or removing the work by connections with a treadle (not shown), these connections ineluding atreadle rod 12.

The various cutting tools that operate on the work are all supported by a carrier 14 which is mounted on a pair of cone bearings that support it for oscillating movement in the direction of feed of the work. This oscillation of the carrier is produced by suitable connections with a cam 16 mounted on the main shaft 18 of the machine, to which also is fixed a pulley 20 thatis driven by a belt connection with a suitable source of power.

The cutting tools with which the machine is equipped consist of a channel knife 22, a shoulder knife 24 and an edge knife 26, best shown in Figs. 2 to 9. The channel knife 22 is adjustably secured in a channel knife block 28 which is supported on the lower end of a vertical slidemounted in the carrier 14. A similar slide, mounted beside the one that carries the block 28, supports the holder 30 in which the edge knife 26'is clamped. These two slides are retained in the carrier by a cover plate 32 and are pressed downwardly toward the table 2 by two springs 34 and 35 which act respectively on the upper ends of the slides. The spring 35 that forces the edge knife 26 toward the table is relatively strong, while the spring 34 which acts through the channel knife slide is comparatively weak. The shoulder knife 24 is secured by a collar screw 42 in a vertical guideway formed'for it in a knife block 36 which is clamped by a bolt 60 in a holder 38 secured on the lower end of a slide 40. The slide 40 is mounted in a vertical guideway formed for it in a plate 44 which is secured to the cover plate 32, and two adjusting screws 46 bear on a wear gib positioned in this guideway at one edge of the slide 40. A weak spring 48 bears on'a lug projecting from the slide 40 and is backed up by an adjustable bolt 50 threaded through a bracket piece 52 that projects from the plate 32, and this spring urges the shoulder knife 24 toward the table 2 and conse quently against the work.

As above indicated, it is desirable to make the channel of a uniform depth so as to produce a ribf (Fig. 11) of uniform thickness. For this purpose there is secured immediately in front of the channel knife 22 a presser foot 58 which is clamped in the channel knife block 28 in fixed but adjustable relationship to the knife 22. This presser foot, of course, is held in contact with the upper face of the sole S by the spring 34 that acts on the slide carrying the block 28; and since the knife projects a fixed distance below the work engaging face of the presser foot, it will cut to a uniform depth. This presser. foot thus acts as a gage for the channel knife. The shoulder knife 24 is similarly guided or gaged, the lower end 37 of the knife block 36 being shaped to constitute the presser foot or gage for this knife.- The shoulder knife is vertically adjustable in the part 36 and this part is also vertically adjustable in the holder 38 which is horizontally adjustable in the slide 40. It will now be evident that during the channeling operation both the channel knife and the shoulder knife will be guided or gaged from the face of the work into which they cut; and the knives 22 and 24 should be set relatively to their respective presser feet 58 and 37 so that they will cut to the same depth. The rib f, formed in this operation, thus will have the opposite edges of its base at the same depth from the face of the sole in which the cuts are made. At the same time if it is desirable to make one cut deeper than the other it is merely necessary to make the corresponding adjustment for the proper knife 22 or 2 1; but the result will be to make each cut of a uniform depth, and there will be a uniform difference in depth between these cuts regardless of variations in the thickness of the sole.

lVhile the arrangement just described avoids one cause of trouble experienced in channeling turn soles with the machines now commonly used for this purpose, the second result desired, namely that of producing a sole edge of a uniform width (this term being used to designate the vertical dimension of the extreme edge face of-the sole) remains to be accomplished. This portion of the sole from the rib or between substance to the edge face of the sole is generally termed the feather. The outer edge face of this feather thus forms, in a turned shoe, the edge face of the sole, and it is this face which it is desirable to make of a uniform width. This end is gained by guiding or gaging the edge knife 26' from the face of the sole S opposite to that in which the channel and shoulder cuts are made; or in other words, by gaging this knife from the work supporting table 2. This gaging function is effected through the frame of the machine by the manner in which the table 2 and knife 26 are mounted. That is, the table 2 occupies a fixed vertical position while the machine is operating on a sole and the knife 26 is supported at a fixed distance above this table. For this purpose the edge knife holder 30 has a wide headed thumb screw 62 adjustably clamped in it by a bolt 64 (Fig. 1) and the head of this screw rests in a slot 66 cut in the lower end of the slide which supports the edge knife. The spring 35 that acts on the slide carrying the edge knife. is sufficiently strong to maintain the knife at a fixed distance above the table during the cutting operation. This distance may be varied by loosening the bolt 64 and the screw 68 which secures the knife to its slide, and then rotating the screw '62, all as set forth in my prior Patent No. 1,030,703 June 25, 1912. As best shown in Fig. 2', the knife 2.6 has a dove-tailed shank mounted'in a similarly shaped horizontal slot formed in the holder 30 and is clamped therein by two screws 70 so that it can be adjusted in a horizontal plane toward and from its companion knives 22 and 24.

The feeding of the sole past the knives during the operation of the machine is effected by means of the knives and their presser feet. That is, as the carrier 14 is swung in one direction. by the cam 16, the pressure of the presser feet on the sole and the engagement of the knives with it move the sole over the tabl 2. A retaining foot, mounted on the lower end of a rod 5a and which is operated by mechanism fully explained in my Patent No. 1,080,704, is pressed firmly against the work as soon as the feeding movement has taken place, and clamps the sole against the table while the carrier 14: makes its return stroke. The knives perform their cutting operation during this latter stroke. The operating mechanism for the retaining foot relieves its pressure on the sole as soon as the carrier has completed the cutting or operative stroke, and thus permits the feed of the work as above explained.

As indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 11, the cutting edge of the edge knife 26 overlaps that of the shoulder knife 2-1, these two knives being mounted at an angle to each other so that they cooperate to form two surfaces 6 and Z), respectively, (Figs. 10 and 11) which together form a marginal face on the sole that extends from the shoulder (Z,

formed by the knife 2%, to the edge of the sole. Since the cut forming the shoulder cl and the bevel a is of a uniform depth notwithstanding variations in the thickness of the. sole, while the cut that makes the surface Z) is at a uniform distance above the lower face of the sole, the width of the surface 6 will vary as the thickness of the sole varies and will be narrow where the sole is thin and wider where the sole is thick, as clearly shown in Fig. 10. This variation, however, is not objectionable.

The margin of the sole, as a result of the cutting operation, is provided with a channel and a shoulder of an even depth throughout because these cuts are gaged from the flesh side of the sole and, therefore, follow all variations in thickness, and with an edge of an even thickness because this cut is gaged from the grain side of the sole which remains always in the plane of the sole supporting face of the work table.

The shoulder and edge cutting operations may be discontinued at the will of the workman by raising the knives 2a and 26 away from the work. For this purpose the slide carrying the knife holder 30 is provided with a pin 72 projecting laterally therefrom through an aperture in the cover plate 32, and le er 73, at the front o h m h ers the work table.

mounted on a rock shaft 74, is connected by means of a rod with a treadle (not shown). An arm 76, loose on the shaft 74, underlies the pin 72 and is provided with a pin 77 which rests on the end of an adjust able lever arm 78 fast on the shaft 74: and forming a partof the lever 73. By depressing the treadle, the lever 7378 will raise the pin 7 2 and thus raise the edge knife 26 from the work against the tension of the spring 35. The slide 40, carrying the shoulder knife, is provided with an extension shaped to form a clamp 80 in which a pin 82 is adjustably secured and the lower end of this pin rests on the pin 7 2, thus causing the knife 24: to be raised against the tension of the spring 4.8, simultaneously with the knife 26. The shaft 7% has also loosely mounted therein an arm 8-1 which underlies a pin 86 projecting laterally from the channel knife slide, through the cover plate 32, and both arms 76 and 8% are operated to raise all three knife slides on depressing the treadle connected to the rod 12 which low- 7 This mechanism is illustrated in Fig. 1 but need not be described as it is the same in all respects as the mechanism for performing this work described in my prior Patent No. 1,023,801, granted April 23, 1912.

The machine, of course, is equipped with the usual edge gage indicated at 88, Fig. 2, having the construction, adjustments and mode of operation described in my Patent No. 1,030,704. The shoulder knife presser foot 37 is recessed for the reception of this gage, as best shown in Fig. 2.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that on passing through the machine a turn sole, which varies in thickness along its marginal portion where the knives of the machine are to operate (this being a usual characteristic of turn soles), a fitted sole will be obtained which is provided with an even depth of shoulder and an even thickness of edge. The present inventor believes himself to be the first to invent a machine which will produce a turn sole having these features from the usual, commercial turn sole stock. In another application, Serial No. 80,614, filed concurrently herewith, I have claimed the sole produced by this ma chine and the method of making it.

While the invention has been herein disclosed as embodied in the machine shown in my prior Patent No. 1,030,? 0-1, it is obvious that the invention is not limited in its application to a machine of this particular type. It will also be understood that the invention is capable of embodiment in many forms differing specifically from that herein described, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

The nature and scope of the present invention havin be n indicated and its preferred embodiment having been specifically described, what is claimed as new, is

1. A channeling machine, having in combination, means for supporting and feeding a shoe sole, a channel knife, a shoulder knife, both of said knives being mounted for operation on the same side of a sole supported by said means, means for gaging said knives from the side of the sole into which they cut, and an edge knife gaged from the opposite side of the sole.

2. A channeling machine, having in combination, a channel knife, means for relatively feeding a sole and said knife to cause the knife to cut a channel in the margin of the sole, means for gaging said knife from the face of the sole into which it cuts, a shoulder knife positioned adjacent to said channel knife and cooperating with it to form a rib, an edge knife mounted to cut into the edge of the sole toward said channel and overlapping the cut made by the shoulder knife, and means for gaging the said shoulder and edge knives relatively to the sole to cause them to cut a strip of mate rial out of the margin of the shoe sole of the dimensions required to reduce the sole edge to a uniform thickness and to form a rib having both edges of its base at substantially the same depth.

3. A channeling machine, having in combination, means for supporting and feeding a shoe sole, two knives positioned at an angle to each other and cooperating to cut a strip of material out of a shoe sole positioned by said means to form a marginal shoulder and a marginal face extending from the base of said shoulder to the sole edge, a tool operative to cut a channel beside said shoulder to form a rib between the 1 I channel and the shoulder, and means for relatively gaging said sole and knives to cause them to form a shoulder cut of substantially the same depth as said channel and to re duce the sole edge to a uniform thickness.

4L. A channeling machine, having in combination, means for supporting and feeding a shoe sole, a channel knife, a channel knife gage, a slide supporting said knife and gage, a shoulder knife, a gage therefor, a second slide supporting said shoulder knife and its gage, both of said gages being positioned to bear on the same side of a sole at points adjacent to each other, an edge knife, and means supporting said edge knife at a fixed distance above the face of the sole support while the knives are operating, on a sole. 7

5. A channeling machine, having in combination, means for supporting and feeding a shoe sole, a channel knife, a shoulder knife, means supporting said knives for yielding movement toward and from said sole, gaging means rigid with said knives and arranged to bear on the face of the sole into which they cut, an edge knife, and means for gaging said edge knife from the face of the sole opposite to that into Which the channel and shoulder knives cut.

6. A channeling machine, having in combination, cutting tools for making channel and shoulder cuts in a shoe sole, and means for relatively feeding and gaging said tools and sole to cause the tools to reduce the sole edge to a uniform thickness and to form a stitch receiving rib having the opposite edges of its base at substantially the same depth.

7 A channeling machine, having in combination, cutting tools operative to make channel and shoulder cuts in a shoe sole,

and means for relatively feeding and gaging said tools and sole to cause the tools to reduce the sole edge to a uniform thickness and to form channel and shoulder cuts each of a uniform depth.

8. A channeling machine, having, in combination, means for supporting and feeding a sole; a channel knife, a shoulder knife and an edge knife all at the flesh side of the sole; a separate slide for sustaining each of said knives mounted for independent movement in the machine frame in a direction normal to the face of the sole; and means for moving said slides and knives away from the sole.

FREDERIC E. BERTRAND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

